EVENTS:
- 1840 – The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
- 1847 – The American Medical Association is founded in Philadelphia.
- 1895 – In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector — a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
- 1920 – The Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, opens the first exhibition by the Group of Seven.
- 1946 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with around 20 employees.
- 1952 – The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer.
- 1986 – Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.
- 1992 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49.
- 2002 – A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
- 2007 – Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.
- 2013 – Twenty-seven people are killed and more than 30 injured, when a tanker truck crashes and explodes outside Mexico City.
BIRTHS:
- 1861 – Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
- 1867 – Władysław Reymont, Polish author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1925)
- 1880 – Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (d. 1972)
- 1909 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist and inventor, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (d. 1991)
- 1912 – Pannalal Patel, Indian author (d. 1989)
- 1930 – Babe Parilli, American football player and coach
- 1936 – Bobby Joe Green, American football player and coach (d. 1993)
- 1939 – Sidney Altman, Canadian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1946 – Marv Hubbard, American football player (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Pat McInally, American football player and coach
- 1964 – Leslie O’Neal, American football player
- 1975 – Ashley Cowan, English cricketer
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
